Social Contribution Activities

“Challenge AIDS”, initiated by “qoon”, an extracurricular activity group for social events authorized by Waseda University in 19985, has provided young generations with accurate information about HIV/AIDS problems and knowledge for its prevention as well as opportunities to reflect on “sexuality” which we are seldom thinking about. In 2005, they also invited guests to give a talk at Roppongi Hills and published a free magazine on HIV/AIDS by young people for young people.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 occurred in northern Pakistan on October 8 to cause a severe damage, with at least 20,000 people killed and 4 million people affected of which 2 million people lost their houses. We would like to express the deepest sympathy to those affected and hope for the earliest recovery as possible.

We made a donation to the Kashmir Earthquake Relief Fund raised by Japanese Red Cross Society hoping to help as many people affected as possible.

We would like to express the deepest condolences to victims of Hurricane Katrina, which occurred at the end of August, 2005, and their families. We would also like to express the deepest sympathy to countries and people affected.

We made a donation to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund raised by Japanese Red Cross Society on September 6, 2005 hoping that assistance will be extended to affected people as soon as possible.

The relief fund raised will be sent to American Red Cross Society to be used to support relief activities it performs. American Red Cross Society is working hard to provide relief by its staff and volunteers, including managing 356 shelters in nine states in the U.S. and rationing food by emergency vehicles.

We made a donation to World Vision Japan , a specified nonprofit corporation which provides assistance, ranging from emergency to development assistance, directly to children and people in the world who are in poverty or difficult situations in response to their needs.

This organization is conducting active assistance activities in Japan and abroad. Overseas, it supports children in a variety of areas including education, health, agricultural support, water resources development, income improvement, leader development, and HIV/AIDS countermeasures. It also distributes food, clothing, blankets, tents, and other relief supplies and provides mental care to the people affected upon emergency such as disasters and conflicts. In Japan, it is engaged in fund raising activities to support children suffering from poverty in developing countries and conduct development education for Japanese children and college students to enable them to have better understanding of the global situation and actively participate in international cooperation.

We started a “paid leave program for social contribution”, which supports social contribution activities by our employees by giving them a paid leave to promote active participation of our employee in social contribution activities.

Under the program, each employee determines which social contribution activities he/she is going to participate on a voluntary basis. In order to enable each employee to contribute to creating a better local community as its member, we will continue to give an organizational support to our employees as a part of our CSR activities.

On December 28, 2004, Mitsue-Links made a donation to the Japanese Red Cross Society's Sumatra Coast Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Relief Fund.

This Emergency Relief Fund has been set up to provide relief to the victims of the tsunamis caused by the 9.0-magnitutude earthquake that hit off the northern tip of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia at 8 am (local time) on December 26, 2004.

Mitsue-Links also called on each of our employees to open their wallets and make monetary donations, and made an additional contribution on January 6 to the Japanese Red Cross Society of the 100,481 yen collected, on behalf of all employees.

Mitsue-Links has made a contribution to the Japan Fund for Global Environment.

The Japan Fund for Global Environment provides funding assistance for the environmental protection activities of private organizations (NGOs), as well as other assistance, and was established by the Japan Environment Corporation (Transferred to the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency on April 1, 2004.) in May 1993 with the aim of promoting and furthering national movements for environmental protection activities.

The Japan Fund for Global Environment is made up of both public and private sector contributions, and seeks not only capital injections from the government, but also wide-spread contributions and donations from citizens and private enterprises. The money raised by the Fund is used to subsidize environmental protection activities by NGOs and to fund personnel education and training initiatives. Managed under the supervision of a committee of environmental experts, the Fund has widely publicized its achievements to the citizens of Japan.

Mitsue-Links has made a donation in the form of a special payment to the Japanese Red Cross Society to assist those people who suffered extensive damage from the Mid-Niigata Earthquake and who continue to live in fear of secondary disasters. The earthquake that hit the mid-Niigata region on the 23rd caused extensive damage, and as of the 25th, 3,952 homes have been destroyed, approximately 37,000 homes across nine municipalities continue to be without power, while some 110,000 are without water.

Mitsue-Links has joined the Community Chest's "Red-Feather Campaign." Contributions made to the Community Chest are used to assist some 90,000 social welfare initiatives and grass-roots volunteer activities nationwide.

Mitsue-Links has made a donation to the specified non-profit organization " Kokkyo naki Kodomotachi " or KnK.

Our children will be the leaders of the 21st century. Fostering the dreams of these children and providing assistance to less-fortunate children is one of the issues that Mitsue-Links, as a member of the corporate community, wants to address.

KnK was established in Japan in 1997 as an organization to run youth education projects for MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES Japon (Doctors without Borders Japan), and the philosophy behind the organization's activities is to encourage both Japanese and Asian children and youths to "grow together."

KnK's primary aims are to promote education and understanding among children all over the world and to improve the educational and living conditions of underprivileged children in developing countries.

Mitsue-Links has shown our support for UNICEF in its primary endeavor to provide education that gives children a future by making a monetary donation to the organization. UNICEF is involved in aid activities in the areas of health, nutrition, water sanitation and hygiene and education in 158 countries and regions around the world. UNICEF works to build educational facilities for children, protect the rights of children, and meet the basic needs of children, and promotes an expansion in the opportunities available to these children so that they might achieve their full potential.

In recent years, children have become increasingly embroiled in armed conflicts. We have endeavored to lend a hand by making a monetary donation to UNICEF, which is engaged in activities to alleviate children from such hardships wherever possible and to give them back their hopes and dreams.

Mitsue-Links has made a monetary donation to the Japanese Red Cross Society's South-East Iran Earthquake Relief Fund. Donations are being collected to provide relief assistance to victims of the earthquake that hit South-East Iran before dawn on December 26, 2003.

Funds raised through the "Red-Feather Campaign" will go towards home welfare services being implemented by municipal social welfare committees, volunteer training activities, child accident prevention, and promoting the sound development of youths.

The Japan Fund for Global Environment is aiming to remedy the environmental crises that we are currently facing on a global scale by providing assistance to NGOs, both in Japan and overseas, involved in forestation and greening activities for the protection of tropical forests, the prevention of desertification, and the protection of wildlife.

Mitsue-Links raised funds for emergency assistance in Iraq through the Japan UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) Office. In response to the emerging crisis in Iraq, UNICEF is engaged in humanitarian efforts targeting women and children, a group most susceptible to the ravages of war.

Mitsue-Links contributed to the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund. The Fund aims to protect the Earth's natural environment, which also has economic significance, including protecting rainforests and preserving ecosystems. This is achieved by providing assistance for nature conservation projects in developing countries, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region.